The Misadventures of Tron Bonne (PS1)

+1 Story: Tiesel Bonne, leader of the Bonne family of air pirates, has gotten himself in trouble with an unscrupulous creditor named Lex Loath. When Tiesel and younger sibling Bon are captured, it's up to little sister Tron to raise enough Zenny to pay off Loath and set her brothers free. In the best Mega Man tradition, the story is mostly just an excuse to go blow stuff up, but the memorable character interactions add a wonderful depth to the story. It's made clear that Tron is a bad guy, but she's not the worst guy, and her sympathetic villainery (especially when playing off the personality-filled Servbots) is fresh and endearing. Taking on new responsibilities and working oneself out of debt are themes that most people can relate to, and helping Tron overcome the obstacles before her is vicariously satisfying. It's also exciting that the main character, for once, is female—and a strong one, at that (and I love how Tron continues to be in charge even after Tiesel is rescued). Heck, Tron's nemesis in the Bank missions is female as well, as is one of the diggers in the cave mission, and the chief of police is not only female, but a person of color. Lest anyone think Splash Woman is the only example of equal representation in the franchise. The only major thing holding the story back is the late-game dialogue with Loath and Glyde, which is way longer than necessary and as generic as it gets—it's fine that they're both one-note villains with no real complexity, but that means we shouldn't spend so long listening to them being blandly evil. It's also disappointing that it's the Servbots, not Tron, who end up confronting the final boss; I'm in full support of the minions having a chance to save the day when Tron is captured late in the game, but taking the last battle away from Tron is like playing a whole game as Roll and then fighting Dr. Wily as Rush.

+0 Graphics: Although PS1-era 3D is, to me, the ugliest that gaming has ever looked, the character models here are stylized enough to look decent for their age. Everything looks like what it's supposed to be, and the backgrounds are varied and detailed enough to be consistently interesting (except maybe in Loath's dungeon, which is pretty ho-hum). The prerendered backgrounds of the Gesellschaft and the anime-style character portraits are by far the graphical highlights of the game; the expressiveness of the art brings the characters to life, and there are some great sight gags (especially on the pause screen during missions).

+1 Music: A lot of catchy tunes here. Some of the music sounds like leftovers from MMX4, but "not quite good enough for MMX4" is still above average. From the optimistic Gesellschaft theme (and its bombastic and wonky variations), to the adventurously mysterious Nakkai Ruins theme, to the ridiculous Servbot training theme, to the relaxing harbor theme, the soundtrack is varied and appropriate for each situation.

+2 Sound Effects: You can knock this score down a notch if the Servbots cross the line from endearing to annoying for you, but Tron Bonne easily has the best voice acting out of any Mega Man game, or at least of those with anywhere near this much dialogue. The casting is perfect, and everyone seems to understand both the meaning of their lines and how to deliver them. Tiesel and the Birdbots are delightfully over-the-top; Tron and the Servbots are emotive and demonstrate a great range; Loath is deliciously evil; Denise oscillates compellingly between tenuous self-confidence and utter defeat; all the other side characters have a unique voice and personality; and Bon is...well, Bon. As for the sound effects proper, everything sounds like it should, nothing stands out as obtrusive, and the Finkel's horn is more fun than it has any right to be. Honk honk.

-1 Control: I appreciate that there are two control styles from which to choose (plus the option to auto-aim or not), but they're both still a little clunky. As with Legends, the camera demands constant manipulation. Stiff transitions between jumping, shooting, and running prevent the gameplay from being more fluid. There's not always a good way to skip dialogue or advance text more quickly, which makes the cave mission in particular into a chore if you're obsessive about talking to everyone. The Gesellschaft menu controls could stand to be streamlined; it's too easy to fumble through giving someone a gift or selecting a Servbot for a task. The training minigames can be really touchy at times. There's no one thing that's outright bad, but the minor annoyances do add up. On the plus side, auto-aim is fairly reliable, manual aiming is straightforward, the Servbots are not altogether incompetent at following commands (and when they are, it adds to the effect of being a villain surrounded by morons), and the game seldom demands more maneuverability than you're able to muster.

+1 Missions: Each mission caters to a different playstyle, yet the missions all feel like they belong together in the same game—in part due to the story holding them together, but also because there are no weak links in the execution. Introducing elements from other genres is always a liability in a Mega Man game (say, the sledding segments of MM8 or the Ride Chaser level of MMX7), and yet Tron Bonne manages to be a competent FPS, RPG, puzzle game, and third-person action game, with elements of gambling and strategy. It probably even makes julienne fries. The harbor missions are easily my favorite; they put a progressively trickier spin on the classic box-pushing style of puzzle, and the optional bonus crates are a nice additional challenge for diehard puzzle fans. Robbing the bank is a hoot, and it's a nice change of pace to create such villainous mayhem without being cruel and evil about it. The Nakkai Ruins mission, a traditional Legends-style dungeon crawl, is also very good; not only do the challenges continue to get harder as you explore deeper into the ruins, but needing to make smaller, strategic visits until you're strong enough to conquer the whole thing is a great way of measuring how far you've come and how far you have yet to go, and it makes you feel like a real treasure hunter. Digging for the Aurora Stones is unfortunately not as exciting as it could be; there are some interesting puzzles and story points, once you finally get to them—there's a lot of time spent flying through uninteresting tunnels and sitting though unproductive dialogue to get to the good stuff. Raiding the Sart Farm is ridiculous fun, with the Servbots absconding with defeated Birdbots and riding cows to victory, but between the endlessly respawning enemies and the persistent and indestructible guard bots later on, the levels can get tedious. Loath's dungeon is a bit of a disappointment—bland, but not without challenge. The only outright bad mission is the hidden casino one, which lets random chance steal your money under the pretense that skill has something to do with it (not to mention that the Bingo game is not friendly to color-blind players such as me). One completely optional (and halfway secret) dud out of the whole lot is not bad at all.

+0 Bosses: There aren't many bosses, and that's probably for the best. Gravurwa, the wannabe Zelda boss that guards the last Aurora Stone, requires so much running away, camera rotating, and waiting for an opening that the biggest challenge is putting up with the frustrating tedium long enough to win. The Hanmuru Doll returning from Legends is fine but forgettable, as are Glyde and the Sart Farm's Megas Struthos (though I was so overpowered when I fought the hammerhead ostrich that the battle didn't last long enough for it to make an impression). The final confrontation with Loath is a cluttered mess, with way too much going on in too small a space. At least the Arukoitan battle (shoot the fast robot in the sea of slow ones) is genuinely clever, and Denise in her various forms provides an honest challenge.

-1 Special Weapons: Tron's arsenal is rather limited, consisting only of the Search Cannon (standard cannon with slight homing ability), the Gatling Gun (rapid-fire gun), and the Bonne Bazooka (slow, but powerful, with a blast radius). And ramming things with the Finkel, if you want to get technical. Granted, not every mission involves combat, so there's not a need for that many weapons. Still, once you upgrade to the next weapon, you'll probably never go back. Among the Servbots, there's a decent variety of attacks, from throwing bombs to tackling opponents...but unless you're micromanaging your minions or using them extensively in combat, the differences in attacks are more cosmetic than anything. You can also pick up objects and throw them, but it's usually easier and safer not to bother.

+2 Items/Upgrades/Support Utilities: Armor upgrades, health increases, portable energy refills...sounds like MMX to me! There are also plenty of items that can be sold to speed you along in your quest for Zenny, items that greatly reduce the cost of developing upgrades, and items that can be given to the Servbots to unlock new abilities. Along those same lines, you can find Cubes that instantly increase (or, in the case of Sloth, decrease) Servbots' stats (which is a godsend if you're tired of the training minigames or can't beat them on the higher difficulties).

+1 Ending: As the Colossus explodes, Tron contacts the Servbots to congratulate them on a job well done. When the Servbots grab the golden refractor, Loath and Glyde attempt to beat a hasty retreat...but Tron doesn't let them off so easily. An explosion or two later, and the devious duo find themselves in the drink, begging for mercy. Tron eventually agrees to help them...in the form of tossing tying them up and delivering them to the police, inadvertently (?) saving Officer Denise's job in the process. A nice little bit of character development there. The credits roll, accompanied by nice artwork of the characters in various situations and full-size location illustrations from the mission select screen. Following the credits is one last cutscene of post-party silliness, where we discover that Tron's favorite Servbot may or may not have accidentally jettisoned the treasure everyone worked so hard to get. ::sigh:: There's also a secret tag advertising Mega Man Legends—I'm not clear on what the conditions are for unlocking this, but I assume it's completing every mission, not just racking up enough Zenny to pay off the debt. For the most part, there's a satisfying sense of closure to the game, but that post-credits cutscene wrecks it a little for me. It's certainly in the Servbots' character to bumble their way out of a job well done, but after playing through the entire endgame as a Servbot, it's more disheartening than funny to see your hard-earned treasure and respect suddenly vanish. Also, I'm still not sure what that random voice clip at the end is all about—is the offending Servbot being cluelessly incinerated? Weird.

+0 Replay Value: Although the player is given a great deal of freedom in paying off the debt to Loath, customizing the Gustaff, and micromanaging Servbots, there's ultimately only enough variety in the gameplay to support two or three playthroughs before everything starts looking the same. The cave and harbor missions are the most obvious culprits; secret treasures and optional bonus crates are nice, but still, there are only so many ways to re-solve a puzzle. There's not enough strategy in the casino minigames for them to add any meaningful replay value, and the Servbot training minigames will overstay their welcome on a first playthrough if you're a completionist like me. Combat-oriented missions are a little more flexible, but the lack of variety in the weapons and level design (long empty hallways, big empty rooms, everything on the same plane) limits the number of ways you can approach each challenge. Still, the Bank missions are complex enough to be decently replayable, there are plenty of alternate pathways throughout the game, and declining some of the Gustaff's upgrades can add new layers of challenge, as can assigning the Red Head Parts differently.

+1 Polish: Tron Bonne is one of the more thoughtfully crafted 3D Mega Man games, with plenty of little touches to make itself more endearing. The intro mission is up there with the one from MMX1 as an exemplar of how to introduce the player to new game mechanics, and the learning curve for each subsequent mission is just right. There's no real penalty for failing a mission; you get to keep the Zenny you earned and can try again as often as you like (and by the time there's the threat of a proper Game Over screen, you'll probably be powerful enough to never see it at all). You don't even need to do all the missions if you don't want to! Servbots with the Appraise ability can tell you exactly what each of your inventory items does, and there's never any fear of selling or misusing anything irreplaceable. Overall, the game gives off a strong vibe that it wants you to succeed, but at your own pace, and without making the challenges too easy. I will say that the Red Head Parts could have been explained better; there's a big difference between "give this to your favorite Servbot" and "give this to a Servbot with the Sniper skill or else you'll regret it"—and actually, the whole Sniper skill annoys me a little, because the combat missions are practically unplayable without a Sniper in command (despite whatever the Servbot's attack rating may suggest!). The scouting system also irks me a little; maybe it's because I played Command Mission first, but it doesn't feel like it matters which Servbots you choose or where you send them; you'll get a completely random item no matter what, and you'll never get as many Speed Cubes and Attack Cubes as you need. Seriously, you could spend hours leveling up all your Servbots and still not be good enough to consistently beat either minigame at the highest level (speaking from experience here). For as player-friendly as the rest of the game is, it's downright cruel to hardcore completionists.

+1 Extras/Easter Eggs: Despite my complaints about its execution, the hidden casino mission is a welcome extra. Changing the ambient music in the Gesellschaft and repainting the Gustaff are fun niceties. A couple missions have hidden treasures (have you ever sent a Servbot into one of the buildings in a harbor mission?), and you can find 8-bit Mega Man on TV in one of the houses in the bank mission. I also consider the different pause screens a sort of extra; it's worth pausing just to see what goofy thing Tron is doing this mission. Allegedly, there's an absurdly secret Servbot (#41), but the unlock conditions involve either a GameShark or a particular back issue of a particular Japanese magazine...which, frankly, is just as annoying as it is cool.

+2 Novelty: One of the truly unique Mega Man games, Tron Bonne gives us a female protagonist who's neither a main character of her series nor a traditional good guy. We have an airship to explore and minions to command. The missions belong to different genres altogether, and the ultimate goal of the game has nothing to do with saving the world. Plenty of new characters populate the cast list, and we get to play as three different characters throughout the course of the story (assuming you're counting all the Servbots as one character). The game is familiar enough that it's identifiable as part of the Legends series, but it blazes its own trail.